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Ga to wipe away the weariness He and Reine-Marie had caught a few hours’ sleep then gotten up to the sound of rain pelting against the panes

It was now late afternoon and Jean-Guy had driven down from Montréal with the preliminary report on Laurent’s death

"I did see thelasses and opening the file

"Preli hi outside now A chilly rain that got into the bones A fire was lit in the hearth and eether, were oblivious to the cheerfulness nearby

"If you look here" Beauvoir leaned in and pointed to a line in the police report "The coroner says he was gone as soon as he hit the ground He didn’t…"

He didn’t lie there, in pain As it got darker And colder

Laurent, all of nine years of age, didn’t die frightened, wondering where they were

Jean-Guy saw Ga There wasn’t much comfort to be found in what had happened He’d take what he could get As would Evie and Al, eventually The only thing worse than losing a child was thinking that child had suffered

"His injuries are consistent hat the police found," said Jean-Guy He sat back on the sofa and looked at his father-in-law "Why do you think it ht be more than that?"

Gamache continued to read, then he looked up and over his half-ave a thin smile and nodded toward the report "Your face as you read the report You’re scanning for evidence I spent twenty years across from you, patron I know that look Why do you think I wanted to be here when you read it?" He tapped the report "I cared for hiuy"

He saw Gaht," Ga fros And one big thing Kids fall off bikes all the time I can’t tell you how often Annie landed headfirst Only repeated blows to the head could explain her attraction to you"

"Merci"

"But surprisingly few die Laurent also wore a helmet most of the time Why not yesterday? He had it with him It was tied to the handlebars of his bike"

"Laurent probably wore the hel But he took it off in between, when no one was looking Like most kids I used to take off my tuque in the middle of winter, as soon as my mother couldn’t see me I’d rather freeze my head than look stupid Don’t say it," Jean-Guy warned, seeing the obvious coht, Jean-Guy There was so off The trajectory, the distance he traveled The distance his bike traveled--"

"--is all explained here"